As Jasper offered to take the girl from District one, and suggested she take the young girl from his own district, she gave a nod of agreement. "OK." She wondered if anyone was actually going to be willing to form an alliance with them. The girl from Jasper's district most certainly would, but she was doubting the girl from one. Whether or not she was fishing for fake trust with her sweet attitude, she doubted any career would want to be seen teaming up with the outer districts. As she scanned in the room in search of the girl from 12, her eyes met the same target at Jasper; the boy from 4. She jumped a little as the tomahawk her threw made a striking blow in the chest of the training dummy. As she continued to watch she couldn't help but giggle lightly as he splashed around in the fishing pool. Despite the puzzled looks from the trainers, she was rather impressed at his ability to snag one of the robotic fish straight out of the water with his bare hands. Slowly, she turned back to Jasper, "I'll take the girl from your district."

Jasper was relieved when Hazel agreed with him so easily about who should talk to who, but he tried not to show it. His eyes cocked back in the the boy from District 4's direction when he heard Hazel laugh.Well, I'll be...He thought to himself at the sight of the career catching a fish with his bear hands.Too bad he's a career.Jasper couldn't help but smile at the sight.A talent like that could be quite useful in the games.Not that Jasper was actually thinking about using anyone. He wanted to send his sister home, and he would do everything within his power to do so, but if something happened to her, he didn't plan on giving up either. Either Riley would go home or someone from the outer districts, hopefully from their group. He smiled at Hazel when she said that she would talk to his sister."Alright, sounds good."He turned to face Chase."You good here?"he asked, wanting to make sure Chase was alright with his suggested recruit before he headed off with Hazel to split up the pair his sister seemed to have formed with the girl from District 1.

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I close my eyes
Only for a moment and the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes with curiosity
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind

Chipo took the weapon from him tenderly and gave it a little toss to feel its balance. Or whatever it was. She didn't know why she did that but it felt pretty alright. Her eyes questioned him for a moment, but he knew what he was doing. The weapon felt unusual in her hand. She wasn't really ambidextrous or anything, so hopefully whatever kind of knowledge he was about to drop would help her out...a lot. It was kind of a given that she wouldn't be a master of the art of dual wielding before the games started, but at least she'd be okay with them.

She didn't even want to think about the games anymore. Chipo couldn't think past this day, actually. It had become difficult for her to dwell on a possible future after the games. Everything was black. It more than likely means I'm going to die, which I should probably come to terms with. It was okay. She would try her hardest and kick all kinds of a**.

Stella was starting to get the hang of building a fire.I think that I'm starting to get the hang of this. Thank you so much Riley!Within a couple minutes Stella had built a fire that was perfect. Not too much smoke, with the right kind of wood, and it was very warm.This is going to come in handy in the games. Riley has been very sweet helping me with learning to do all of these things. It's hard trying to master all of these skills that could very well mean life or death in the games. Maybe if I just keep working at it I can actually make something of myself. Make my family proud. But maybe I'm stretching the truth a little bit here. Let's face it. This is just one of many skills I have to master in this short amount of time if I even have half of a chance at surviving these games.Stella fashioned another pile for fire and lit it, making sure the first time was not a fluke.I'm doing this right, right?

Stella didn't really respond to Riley's question, instead she went straight into trying to build a fire again. Riley didn't want to be rude, so the child simply nodded when the older girl thanked her for showing her how to build a fire, even though the twelve year old really had more to tell her.

She watched to see if the older girl would build it correctly and was shocked."Wow!"Riley smiled, sharing Stella's enthusiasm."You're a fast learner!"She smiled, congratulating the older girl at how fast she had picked up on the technique."It took me months to figure it out."Riley laughed, thinking back to that long winter when her dad had coached her how to build fires.

She would build one and then he would make her go outside with him to see how much smoke made its way out of the chimney. After that winter, Riley had thought she never want to build another fire again, but she hadn't had a choice. Building the fire had become her job from then on, since her father didn't want her to forget how to do it just in case she was ever chosen for the games. She wished could see her father again before she went into the arena. She wished she could thank him for all he had taught her.

Riley smiled at Stella, and then turned to the pile wood she had just taken apart. She put the pile back together, much quicker than she had before, showing off a bit. She lit the fire and smiled down at it.Perfect...She thought to herself, wondering if any of the other tributes would have any knowledge like the knowledge she had just passed on to Stella.

Heroes are made when you make a choice
You could be a hero - heroes do what's right
You could be a hero - you might save a life
You could be a hero- you could join the fight
For what's right, for what's right, for what's right

Hazel caught the smile Jasper gave her, and she couldn’t help but smile in response. Why on earth was she smiling? What reason was there to smile? They were all about to be thrown in to an arena and expected to fight to the death; even with this little pact the few of them were making amongst each other, chances were pretty high that two of them might possibly be the last two in the arena – then what? Hazel couldn’t even begin to imagine what she would do if it was her and the little girl from District 12 that were the last two alive. She couldn’t possibly kill a child, but in the heat of the moment would she do whatever she had to in order to survive? That arena did awful things to everyone who entered, mentally more than physically. She shuddered at the thought, and returned her attention back to Jasper’s face. She gave him a small nod, until finally her eyes shifted over to the young girl from his district.

Hazel had to inhale, long and deep. Without waiting for either Jasper or Chase to confirm they were about to go talk to their chosen tributes, she slowly made her way over to the little brunette girl. She was still in the company of the girl from one, and they seemed to be working together on building something out of wood. As she slowly made her way over she intently watched the girl from 12 quickly build the fire, and she was rather impressed. Wow. She certainly would be useful to have as an ally! She thought, and she wondered if Jasper was aware of the young girl’s talents. Finally she reached the two girls, and she smiled down at Riley, “Wow, that’s really impressive!”

Nate wondered if he was making the right decision in introducing her to dual wielding. One of two things could happen; the first is that she’d down right suck, which would kind of be a good thing as he’d know a weakness of hers, but would also make her a less valuable ally. And the second, was that she could be an absolute natural, and if that were the case…. Well, she could prove to be a threat to him. No, he wouldn’t let that happen. No one could beat him, especially not a girl. He knew exactly how to tame her in the way that he could use her to his own advantage; another weapon, per say. If he played with her the right way, she would even be too infatuated to hurt him, even if it came down to her own life. Yes, that was what was going to happen. He’d make sure of it.

He watched her develop a comforting feel for the weapon, and he grinned. However he noticed her grow a little distracted, a bit lost in her own thoughts. He raised an eyebrow, and examined her face a bit. She was quite a pretty little thing; not exactly like the other girls back in his district that he would usually go after, but she was undoubtedly attractive. “Hey… you ok?” he asked, sounding very convincing that he actually cared.

Jasper didn't wait long before he followed Hazel in the direction of the girl from district one and his sister. He wasn't really sure how to approach the career with his idea of an alliance. He knew she would either accept it - which could be a sign that she was either a good actress or that she wasn't acting all - or she could completely scoff at the idea the way the boy from two had - which of course would mean she had been acting all along. So Jasper decided to just be himself, the way he had with Hazel and Chase. Pretending to be someone he wasn't wasn't going to get him any where.

Jasper noticed Hazel's gaze focus intently on his sister, and he followed her gaze, watching as Riley built her fire. He had to force himself to hold back from expressing his sentiments along with Hazel. "Impressive...?"Jasper laughed, before Riley had a chance to respond to Hazel's praise, and came to a stop next to the girl from 10."I think that's a matter of opinion."he added, his tone taking on a hint of teasing rather than condescension."A fire can get you killed as easily as it can save your life." He pointed out, not to put his sister down but simply so he wouldn't seem biased in his opinion of her.

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I close my eyes
Only for a moment and the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes with curiosity
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind

Riley had been so focused on building her fire that she hadn't notice the approaching tributes until she heard a female voice compliment her on her fire building technique. She turned to thank the girl, but before she had a chance the boy from her district voiced his disagreement with the red-head's opinion."Oh, lighten up, Jasper,"Riley rolled her eyes before letting them center in on him, shocked that the long-blonde-haired boy was actually talking to her. He hadn't said a single word to her since the reaping after all."I think even my father would compliment me on that one."she added, motioning back to the smokeless flame.

Heroes are made when you make a choice
You could be a hero - heroes do what's right
You could be a hero - you might save a life
You could be a hero- you could join the fight
For what's right, for what's right, for what's right

Hey Jasper! I think her fire looks amazing. I think Riley did a great job.Stella had began to put her acting face back on. She was not so sure that she was comfortable with this Jasper. He had gotten into a scuffle with Nate a little while ago, and she wasn't about to let the same thing happen between him and Riley. She felt very defensive of Riley.Even though I would not stand a chance against this guy, I still have to stick up for Riley. The games haven't even started and there's already been a fight. I'm not about to make this #2. We all should save this quarreling for the games. That's where it actually matters.

Well it's been nice meeting you Blade, I guess.Skylar and Blade had been sitting in silence for awhile, so Skylar decided to casually leave him to lifting his weights and he went over to handheld weapons. Picked up a throwing knife and threw it at a dummy.Bingo! Right on the money. That's what I'm talking about.Skylar picked up 2 more throwing knives and had the same result.Ka-ching! This is what I have been training for my whole life, right?Skylar was not so sure, now that the games were upon him, that he was ready to take this on. Sure, he'd been trained ever since he was younger to become a tribute, and possibly a victor, but something just felt off to him. Just to trying to take his mid off of it, Skylar picked up a spear. First time, missed. Wide right.What is going on, get yourself together Skylar! You're a career. You're ready for this. You can do this. You will be the victor.Skylar went and retrieved his knives, sticking into the dummy, and the spear he had thrown. Taking a stand, at the same distance he was at, Skylar wound up and threw the spear again. This time, he hit the target in the center of its forehead. Maybe he was ready after all?